Gordon Welchman, 79, who made a fundamental breakthrough...

October 14, 1985

NEWBURYPORT, MASS. — Gordon Welchman, 79, who made a fundamental breakthrough in solving the German cipher machine during World War II, died Tuesday.

Welchman, who attended Cambridge University, was a lecturer in mathematics at Sidney Sussex College there when war broke out. He joined the British code- breaking agency in September 1939, at its headquarters at Bletchley Park, 50 miles northwest of London and later became assistant director for mechanization.

A mathematician, Welchman came to the United States from his native England in 1948. He worked for Sperry Rand, Ferranti, Itek and Mitre, retiring from Mitre in 1971 but continuing as a consultant, studying military matters.

In 1982, he published his memoirs, The Hut Six Story: Breaking The Enigma Codes.